In April, 1990, I (Wayne) received a phone call from “Nik”, who helped me plan my trip to New Zealand in 1989 (see note 1 below). As recorded in my outdoor journal, I went steelhead fishing with Nik several times during the Winter of 1989/90. Although I hadn’t done any climbing recently, Nik asked me if I wanted to do a hike or climb on April 15, 1990, which was Easter Sunday. I wasn’t planning on doing a climb that day; however, I had been doing some deep thinking about an article I had seen in the Seattle PI a few days prior (see Reference 1 below). The article was shocking. Knowing that it was going to be Easter Sunday, and pondering the article, I decided that it was “the right thing to do”. I am convinced that I would not have done a climb that day, if Nik had not called me a day or two prior. When he called, I told him I had not been up McClellan’s Butte before, and I would be interested in doing it.
We got a late start that day. We were on the trail at 12:25 PM. Because it was April, we encountered snow, which made me think more about the Reference 1 article. I did not mention the article to Nik. We reached the summit at 3:25 PM. We stayed on the summit until 4:15 PM. It was a nice day. I made a note in my journal stating that "I expected the rock scramble to be more exposed than it was”. A route description is given in Reference 2.
I checked my records to see if I had done any other climbs on Easter Sunday. The note 2 below identifies photos of the only other time I did it.
Note 1: Photos from the relevant '89 New Zealand trip can be found at Sitemap->New Zealand.
Note 2: My other Easter climb was done on 3/30/1986; photos can be found at Sitemap->States(US)->Washington->Preparing for McKinley Part 1.
Note 3: Photos from the relevant ‘90 Goodwill Games can be found at Sitemap->The Sport of Track & Field (T & F)->My Photos of the Goodwill Games (Part 1), ->My Photos of the Goodwill Games (Part 2).
Note 4: Photos from the relevant Colchuck Peak Trip can be found at Sitemap->States(US)->Washington->Colchuck Peak (East Route) Trip ’90.
Note 5: Photos from the relevant Sport of Mountaineering can be found at Sitemap->Sport of Mountaineering.
References:
1. Seattle Post Intelligencer (PI), 6 April 1990
2. “Cascade Alpine Guide Climbing and High Routes: Columbia River to Stevens Pass", by Fred Beckey, 2nd printing March 1979
